It was late next morning when he awoke. He had scarcely breakfasted before the Earl of Amberley and Lord Orpington made their appearance over the side. To carry out the part he had arranged to play, he received them seated in his deck chair, his swaddled-up right foot reclining on a cushion before him. On seeing his guests, he made as if he would rise, but they begged him to remain seated.
"I hope your ankle is better this morning," said Lord Orpington politely, as he took a chair beside his friend.
"Much better, thank you," Carne replied. "It was not nearly so serious as I feared. I hope to be able to hobble about a little this afternoon. And now tell me the news, if there is any."
"Do you mean to say that you have not heard the great news?" asked Lord Amberley, in a tone of astonishment.
"I have heard nothing," Carne replied. "Remember, I have not been ashore this morning, and I have been so busily engaged with the preparations for my departure to-morrow that I have not had time to look at my papers. Pray what is this news of which you speak with such bated breath?"
"Listen, and I'll tell you," Lord Orpington answered, and he related the events of the previous night, Carne's face, in the meantime, showing great astonishment.
"Good gracious?" said Carne. "I never heard of such a thing. Surely it's the most impudent robbery that has taken place for many years past. To represent the Emperor of Westphalia and his aide-de-camp so closely that they could deceive even the officers of his own yacht, and to take a sentry off one post and place him in such a position as to protect them while at their own nefarious work, seems to me the very height of audacity. But how did they get their booty away again? Gold plate, under the most favorable circumstances, is by no means an easy thing to carry."
As he asked this question, Carne lit another cigar with a hand as steady as a rock.
"They must have escaped in a boat that, it is supposed, was lying under the shelter of the stern gallery," replied Lord Amberley.
"And is the chief steward able to furnish the police with no clue as to their identity?"